Team feeding off of positive momentum

A tidal wave of positive energy has fueled the Cassville soccer team to a 5-2 record as of Monday.

Coach Jake Forste said the team is feeding off of its hot start.

"Everyone from the parents, to the administration, to the kids in kindergarten on up have expressed how excited they are about the program," Forste said. "I can only speak for the time that I have been here, but we've come a long way from where we started, but we still have a long way to go."

The Wildcats are still finding their feet, but the stats are pointing to a marked improvement.

Through seven games last season, Cassville was outscored 30-10 and had a 1-6 record.

Over the same seven-game stretch this season, Cassville is +10 (22-12) in goals differential, which has translated into the 5-2 mark.

Of the team's two losses, one came to Class 4 Springfield Central (the Wildcats are in Class 2) and the other was in double overtime to Fair Grove.

"It's night and day in how we are playing now than when we started in the summer," Forste said. "We were playing what I termed 'boomer ball' where we would send it 40 yards down the field and expect our forwards to pick up the play."

Forste said that his main focus was to get the team to settle down and make the easy passes instead of dropping bombs down the field and hoping for the best.

"I told the boys that our expectation is 15 wins this season," he said. "That's not a goal or a hope-to-achieve, it's an expectation."

This week, the Wildcats played College Heights on Tuesday and at Aurora on Thursday. Results of Tuesday's game were not available as of presstime.